I've been meaning to ask this for a while now (I think this is the right place). Is there anyone here in Austin who has done much work with improvisors who are blind (like me)? So far, everyone I've played with has been very accommodating and super supportive (I really can't thank y'all enough), but it feels like a learning experience for everyone involved.
I'd like to get some advice or hear how other folks have worked with blind folks. I'm still pretty new to improv (and honestly, I'm not all that good at being blind either), so it's hard for me to think outside of the box on ways to make performing easier for the people I'm playing with.
Blind Improvisors
Discussion of the art and craft of improvisation.
Moderators: arclight, happywaffle, bradisntclever
Re: Blind Improvisors
I will say that I loved how you threw yourself (literally, repeatedly) into the Narrative Improv Jam when you came.daymorn wrote:it's hard for me to think outside of the box on ways to make performing easier for the people I'm playing with.
PGraph plays every Thursday at 8pm! https://www.hideouttheatre.com/shows/pgraph/
Before my current career, I was a Special Education teacher. Most of my early teaching experience came from assisting visually impaired kids to adapt to living in a community setting.
We used a lot of techniques to put on shows in the school setting in order to include blind/visually impaired actors.
We would set up the stage as a clock, with "12" facing the audience, "6" faces the back, and "3" and "9" were stage right/left. No actor could approach a blind actor from the "6" unless the scene was blocked out and the person was expecting it. If you approached the actor , it had to be from the top of the clock. We choreographed different methods for the actor to move around the stage, from letting them count the number of steps to the edge of the stage or steps to the wings.
For impromptu shows, we would have "Left" or "Right" days - You would only be allowed to approach the actor from the left or the right, and the actor knew the other direction was safe to move about.
You can establish code words / phrases for your scene partners to use to let you know when you are in danger of either walking off the stage or walking into the wings by mistake. that way you can work these lines into a scene and not have to worry about breaking the moment if you wander too far.
You can also pick formats which allow you to work around your sight deficit. Some formats can be tailored to allowing you to get maximum benefit from minimal movement. I would defer to any of the great teachers in this community for their expertise in adapting some of the games and such we all use to accent your improv ability while taking out some of the movement requirements. When we put on plays/skits for family nights, we had our visually impaired students play high status characters like kings, the President, or other powerful people who could remain in one place and command others who could move around him/her.
I'll look around through my old books and see if I can find anything else. I hope this helped.
We used a lot of techniques to put on shows in the school setting in order to include blind/visually impaired actors.
We would set up the stage as a clock, with "12" facing the audience, "6" faces the back, and "3" and "9" were stage right/left. No actor could approach a blind actor from the "6" unless the scene was blocked out and the person was expecting it. If you approached the actor , it had to be from the top of the clock. We choreographed different methods for the actor to move around the stage, from letting them count the number of steps to the edge of the stage or steps to the wings.
For impromptu shows, we would have "Left" or "Right" days - You would only be allowed to approach the actor from the left or the right, and the actor knew the other direction was safe to move about.
You can establish code words / phrases for your scene partners to use to let you know when you are in danger of either walking off the stage or walking into the wings by mistake. that way you can work these lines into a scene and not have to worry about breaking the moment if you wander too far.
You can also pick formats which allow you to work around your sight deficit. Some formats can be tailored to allowing you to get maximum benefit from minimal movement. I would defer to any of the great teachers in this community for their expertise in adapting some of the games and such we all use to accent your improv ability while taking out some of the movement requirements. When we put on plays/skits for family nights, we had our visually impaired students play high status characters like kings, the President, or other powerful people who could remain in one place and command others who could move around him/her.
I'll look around through my old books and see if I can find anything else. I hope this helped.
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- beardedlamb Offline
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Andy and I are co-teaching a level 1 right now at the Hideout with a blind student. It has been an awesome challenge for us and the other students, just to find creative ways to include him in the exercises and games. He seems to really like it and I hope he'll sign up for Level 2. I can't speak to how much he would like to perform (beyond just doing the classes), but I can talk to him about meeting you maybe so you guys can jam on what its like to improvise blind and get another's perspective. I can give him your contact info and maybe he can decide if he wants to get in touch. does that sound alright?
I did my first scene with him a few weeks ago in class and I was extremely nervous but it ended up being really fun.
I did my first scene with him a few weeks ago in class and I was extremely nervous but it ended up being really fun.
- TexasImprovMassacre Offline
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- Joined: August 11th, 2006, 4:37 am
- Location: Austin, TX
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Mike, I think that those are pretty sweet ideas.
I think that you could perhaps try out some forms that restrict movement. Like bassprov which all takes place in a small fishing boat. It doesn't have to be a fishing boat necessarily, but the location could be predetermined to handle the challenge of movement.
I also think that the bat would be a good format to explore. It is an improv format where the players sit in the dark and do a show with only their voices. It can just be a bunch of scenes, or you could do a genre narrative type of show like the ones performed by some theaters around town.
I have had a dream for a while of performing bats for blind audiences, or for doing a bat podcast that made some efforts to market itself to a blind audience...I like the idea of offering something that a blind audience could enjoy as much as any other audience...
I think though that it would also be cool to establish some guidelines like Mike suggested, and then see how the other players in the troupe worked to support a blind improviser.
Somewhat shameful plug, my dream is finally coming true. We're recording a bat podcast at ColdTowne on the April 19th at 10pm. If you would like to come out and get an idea of what that might be like I would be quite interested in hearing your feedback on the show.
I think that you could perhaps try out some forms that restrict movement. Like bassprov which all takes place in a small fishing boat. It doesn't have to be a fishing boat necessarily, but the location could be predetermined to handle the challenge of movement.
I also think that the bat would be a good format to explore. It is an improv format where the players sit in the dark and do a show with only their voices. It can just be a bunch of scenes, or you could do a genre narrative type of show like the ones performed by some theaters around town.
I have had a dream for a while of performing bats for blind audiences, or for doing a bat podcast that made some efforts to market itself to a blind audience...I like the idea of offering something that a blind audience could enjoy as much as any other audience...
I think though that it would also be cool to establish some guidelines like Mike suggested, and then see how the other players in the troupe worked to support a blind improviser.
Somewhat shameful plug, my dream is finally coming true. We're recording a bat podcast at ColdTowne on the April 19th at 10pm. If you would like to come out and get an idea of what that might be like I would be quite interested in hearing your feedback on the show.
Contact Doug Foxworth at the Texas State School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI): 512-452-8244. He runs Austin Information Radio (AIR), which provides live radio broadcasts [to radios specially tuned to a KUT-FM sub-channel] of local newspapers, books, and magazine articles read by local volunteers. (I used to be one of his readers. He's always on the lookout for volunteers who can read in one-hour blocks.) He might consider adding an hour of live improv on AIR if you give him a sample. You could call the program LI-AIR!TexasImprovMassacre wrote:I have had a dream for a while of performing bats for blind audiences, or for doing a bat podcast that made some efforts to market itself to a blind audience...I like the idea of offering something that a blind audience could enjoy as much as any other audience...
If you (or anyone reading) would like to TEACH improv to the blind & visually impaired on a regular basis, contact the Austin Council of the Blind. Its mission is to provide educational and informational programs and improve accessibility and independence for the blind and visually impaired. I'm sure they would welcome improv as a new program, and it might even get some funding. The Hideout's student could provide a testimonial.
What is to give light must endure burning. - Viktor Frankl